Utrecht (Netherlands)

Utrecht opts for a healthy and liveable city where living, working, greenery, and urban facilities are close by. It gives direction to the tasks that we will be working on over the next 20 years; creating thousands of homes and jobs in balance with all the amenities this requires at a time when the city also needs to become climate-proof.

People live and enjoy coming to Utrecht. More and more people want to live and work in Utrecht and more and more people visit our city. Only the available space remains the same. Space that we mainly want to use for living, playing, and greenery.

We want everyone to be able to live and work in a healthy and pleasant way in the growing city. In Utrecht, we give priority to clean modes of transport that take up little space: walking, cycling, public transport, and shared transport. In addition, we want all facilities to be accessible within 10 minutes. How we want to do that is stated in the Mobility Plan 2040 that was adopted by the city council on 15 July 2021.

Our approach consists of 5 steps: smart zoning, different travel, network in order, smart parking, and smart steering. And very important: we organize mobility in such a way that everyone can participate.

With smart zoning we mean to build new homes, businesses, and facilities at existing and new nodes in the public transport network. As a result, people need to travel less (far).

There is also the aim of encouraging people to travel differently. Together with employers, educational institutions, and crowd pullers in the city, we encourage residents and visitors not to travel, at a different time or differently (using a sustainable means of transport or via a different route) where possible.

Another of our objectives is networking in order to accommodate the growth in mobility through walking, cycling, and public transport. These networks are being improved and expanded. In this way, we make cycling, public transport and shared mobility more attractive. For example, through a regional cycling network with more space and multiple route choices. And also by sufficient facilities to park your bicycle easily and safely.

In 2040 there will be a train on all major train connections at least every 10 minutes. Some of the Intercity trains will soon also call at the stations Leidsche Rijn Centrum, Overvecht and Lunetten. As a result, there is less need to travel via Utrecht Central, which makes it less crowded. At public transport nodes and P+Rs you can easily and quickly transfer from car or train to tram, bus, and shared bicycle.

Smart parking is also a measure we want to implement. There will be more space for greenery, pedestrians, and play areas and less nuisance due to traffic and parking. This is made possible by parking regulation, fewer parking spaces on the street, more remote parking, and more bicycle sheds for different types of bicycles.

We aim to design the road smartly and dynamic traffic management, such as smart traffic lights, we can steer traffic. This creates more space and allows walking, cycling, and public transport as well as encouraging the use of the desired routes.

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